June 21st, 2012 issue #1125

With the chair of the Darden School Foundation board Peter Kiernan having resigned to distance himself from raging fires of discontent over the ouster of UVA president Teresa Sullivan, attention turns to the power of other wealthy donors and their role in the forced resignation. It turns out that Kiernan wasn't the only UVA giver with advance knowledge of what has been defended as a confidential personnel decision.

A marathon session of the Board of Visitors ended the day after it began with no new resignations but with an interim president chosen and, afterwards, shouts of "resign" and "shame on you" ringing in the air, as a small band of students and others followed University of Virginia Rector Helen Dragas to her car at 3am.
"You have done so much damage to this University," shouted one man. "Please resign."

One of the harshest criticisms emerging from the sack of UVA president Teresa Sullivan is that the way the Board of Visitors handled her dismissal has caused such blow-back that the BOV managed to harm the reputation of the institution it said it was trying to protect.
Prior stories:
• Cabal Hall? Why would Darden trump Carr's Hill?

On a Sunday at a hastily convened meeting, three members of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors' executive committee voted to accept the resignation of President Teresa Sullivan, and a firestorm ensued. Rector Helen Dragas led the ouster of Sullivan with her BOV cohorts, vice rector Mark J. Kington and Charlottesville developer Hunter Craig. Who are they?
Mark Kington

With the UVA Faculty Senate formally requesting her resignation and a Board of Visitors meeting with ousted President Theresa Sullivan slated for Monday afternoon, the pressure's on for UVA Rector Helen Dragas to pull a rabbit out of a hat. But even her possible status as the most despised woman in Virginia doesn't appear to be bending her will. At least not yet, as she's hired one of the nation's priciest PR firms to help her manage the crisis.

Just four days after University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan was ousted in what many are calling a coup by a small faction of the University's Board of Visitors and a cadre of Wall Street-oriented alumni, the state's flagship school has been thrown into chaos, and a key figure in what's become a national headline-grabbing fiasco has resigned his position as chair of the Darden School Foundation Board.

Former governor Tim Kaine, the man who appointed half of the Board of Visitors, including embattled Rector Helen Dragas, weighed in on the forced resignation of UVA President Teresa Sullivan at a meeting with Charlottesville women June 19.
"The board made a very, very serious mistake in making this decision without meeting," he said. "It's been very painful watching this."
Kaine, now running for the U.S. Senate, recalled that in his last month as governor, he heard the news that Teresa Sulllivan had been chosen president of the University of Virginia.

While leaving little doubt that business skills are a key attribute in its choice of a temporary leader, the UVA Board of Visitors chose a man to serve as interim president who also has organizational and people skills on his side: Carl Zeithaml, a specialist in the field of strategic management and the long-time dean of the McIntire School of Commerce.
"He's a bridge builder and a consensus builder," says former UVA President Bob O'Neil, "and I think people will gather around him."

Shouts of "UVA, UVA" went up when recently ousted President Teresa Sullivan appeared before the marble steps of the Rotunda.
Sullivan's statement:
"Apparently, the area of disagreement appears to be just how that change should occur and at what pace," Sullivan told the Board of Visitors in closed session. "No matter how accomplished he or she may be, a president cannot read minds. When you choose a new president, tell him or her what you are thinking."

Despite an officially-announced departure date in August, ousted University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan has already been stripped of her authority, but one of her two top deputies revealed Sunday that he may not stand for further indignities.
Prior stories:
• Cabal Hall? Why would Darden trump Carr's Hill?

An overnight message hand-scrawled in thick red marker defied UVA's official attempts to wipe it clean. G R E E E D (they added a bonus "E") spelled out over the six Corinthian columns on the north face of the Rotunda was visible Monday morning, June 18, as reporters searched in vain for the 9am secret meeting between the Board of Visitors and executive committee of the Faculty Senate.